RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Stealing Among High School Students: Prevalence and Clinical Correlates
JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 44
OP 52
VO 39
IS 1
A1 Jon E. Grant
A1 Marc N. Potenza
A1 Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin
A1 Dana A. Cavallo
A1 Rani A. Desai
YR 2011
UL http://jaapl.org/content/39/1/44.abstract
AB Although stealing among adolescents appears to be fairly common, an assessment of adolescent stealing and its relationship to other behaviors and health problems is incompletely understood. A large sample of high school students (n = 3,999) was examined by self-report survey with 153 questions concerning demographic characteristics, stealing behaviors, other health behaviors including substance use, and functioning variables, such as grades and violent behavior. The overall prevalence of stealing was 15.2 percent (95% confidence interval (CI), 14.8–17.0). Twenty-nine (0.72%) students endorsed symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of DSM-IV-TR kleptomania. Poor grades, alcohol and drug use, regular smoking, sadness and hopelessness, and other antisocial behaviors were all significantly (p < .05) associated with any stealing behavior. Stealing appears to be fairly common among high school students and is associated with a range of potentially addictive and antisocial behaviors. Significant distress and loss of control over this behavior suggest that stealing often has significant associated morbidity.